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Why do you think so many people are bad at maths?

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zzdfa:
Maybe it's because maths is very sequential in that you must master the earlier material before you can effectively learn new material.

the teachers dont pick up on the small conceptual misunderstandings each year then you end up with people in year 11 (at mhs even) thinking that sin(x) means sin*x

xXNovaxX:

--- Quote from: zzdfa on August 14, 2009, 07:59:51 pm ---Maybe it's because maths is very sequential in that you must master the earlier material before you can effectively learn new material.

the teachers dont pick up on the small conceptual misunderstandings each year then you end up with people in year 11 (at mhs even) thinking that sin(x) means sin*x

--- End quote ---

* embarrassed*, i guess i'm one of those people who think sin (x) is the same as sin*x, hahah, but you are correct about the small misunderstandings which they don't pick up on, and then by the time you're in higehr levels it becomes difficult to grasp concepts which encompass those skills you should have learnt before. This goes back to me saying teachers not checking your exercise book and or marking it like they used to in primary school. ALSO, this means the only time they know you struggle with something is during the SAC, (after you hand it in), by then it's too late and already gone to your SS. Furthermore, i hate it when they don't correct your SACS, that is, they just put big red X's, and crosses, with no explanation. This might encourage students to maybe clarify soemtihng and learn in future.

kamil9876:
yeah. I don't like it how suddenly in vce you 'take leaps' as TT said. For example: the difficulty in a hard calculus question is not the actual calculus but some skill in elementary geometry/algebra/reasoning that could easily be obtained much before u "learn" how to integrate. The pioneers of calculus would be much more proficient at this and still have massive difficulties at differentiating and that is why students should be taught better at the 'pre-calculus' topics before jumping in there.

In other countries Calculus is thought of as some crazy uni math topic that you do once acquiring some math skill and before you learn this you learn number theory, geometry, logic, epsilon-delta limits, sums and series, algebra... which all makes sense because by doing so you acquire a taste for mathematical rigour which can then be applied to learning calculus more intelligently(especially when having knowledge of proof, limits and series(which really defines integration, not some mindless algorithms)).

In fact this lack of understanding what integration really means, just to take an example, is currently frustrating lecturers/tutors/students at uni since they[students] have difficulty in areas like physics where they must recognize limits of sums as integrals... but no... they[students] just see integrals as some crap u do with let u=.....

The above happens a lot when moving from one point in education to another, lack of skills in 7-10 affects poor algebra/geometry/reasoning in vce; poor definition of integration, proof, and mathematical ideas in general make it a difficult step into uni for most aspiring engineers.

edit: ambigous with "they" :P

Fyrefly:

--- Quote from: xXNovaxX on August 14, 2009, 08:11:49 pm ---* embarrassed*, i guess i'm one of those people who think sin (x) is the same as sin*x, hahah, but you are correct about the small misunderstandings which they don't pick up on, and then by the time you're in higehr levels it becomes difficult to grasp concepts which encompass those skills you should have learnt before.

--- End quote ---

I remember in year 8... I simply could NOT understand +ves and -ves (like... multiplying and dividing and such)... I just DID NOT get it.
My teacher explained it exactly the same way as the txtbook every time I asked him, and the textbook didn't help me!
Eventually I gave up on asking him.

I don't remember how, but one day it all suddenly made sense to me.
I think one of my classmates may have explained it to me...

I dunno... I'm probably a bit weird in this respect tho... I never really understood the whole 'rise over run' thing that teachers kept repeating, but I got how to find gradient with x and y and such.

xXNovaxX:
I get what you mean. I was going to say before, but thought its stupid, but i guess some people are just "born with it", it's no secret some people have the left/right side of their brain more developed then there's, some are artistic, some can't draw anytihng etc. I think it's not different for maths. Although ANYONE can IMPROVE in maths, I always think some people are always going to be better off. I get what you mean about it just CAME TO YOU, and how you don't understand -ve, +ve, LOL, because im in the same boat  :uglystupid2:. Ah well. lol.

It also comes down to how teachers explain. Sometimes i get teachers who just write on the board, or give explanations which are FROM OUR TEXTBOOK, which i could have easily looked at myself, other times they write/give extensive notes with useful annotators and a break down of the process. Ah well, can't be bliss all the time.

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